Radiation Hardening Design of Nonvolatile Hybrid Flip-Flop Based on Spin Orbit Torque MTJ and SRAM

Abstract

Spin orbit torque magnetic tunnel junction (SOT-MTJ) has been widely used for designing nonvolatile flip-flop (NVFF), thanks to its ultrafast switching speed, zero static power consumption, nearly unlimited endurance, etc. However, in the space environment, the write pulse width of the SOT-MTJ is comparable to radiation-induced current duration. Thus, the SOT-MTJ-based NVFF may suffer from soft error induced by the nonvolatile single event upset (NVSEU) in the backup mode. In this paper, we analyze the sensitive nodes in different work modes and propose the radiation hardening circuits for master–slave NVFF (MS-NVFF) to solve the NVSEUs. Based on a physics-based SOT-MTJ compact model and a 40[Formula: see text]nm CMOS design kit, the reliability of MS-NVFF is verified by simulation with 2[Formula: see text]pC charge, which could be reliably integrated into aerospace and avionics electronics in hostile environments.